PAUL GAINSBACK

Virginia Ambassador Day job – Retired Aircraft Mechanic and Flight Engineer Favorite Airstrip – Bear River (VA) Next adventure – My life is a daring adventure. My greatest challenge is squeezing my innumerable interests into the limited time and space granted to me. Submitted on January 3, 2022.

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Joe Feiler

RAF supporter Joe Feiler of Casper, Wyoming loads his tools into his Cessna Cardinal and brings his skills where the RAF is making an impact. Joe’s 35-years teaching Career and Technical education included woodworking, carpentry, and welding, and he readily puts his knowledge and experience to work as a volunteer. “I learned Tim Riley was…

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RAF GRANT FUNDS BLACKWATER, FLORIDA MAINTENANCE

RAF Florida Liaison Bobby Capozzi has been awarded an RAF grant for continued maintenance at Blackwater airfield (8FD3) near Munson, Florida, 33 nm northeast of Pensacola. “This grant will benefit the aviation community and continue our current relationship that the RAF enjoys with the Florida State Forestry who owns the airfield,” Capozzi says. This grant will…

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VIDEO TAKES YOU INSIDE THE TRIGGER GAP PAVILION

The RAF is very proud of the work its volunteers accomplished to create a pavilion at Trigger Gap (17A) in the beautiful Ozark region of Arkansas. We are excited to share this Voortex Productions’ inviting six and a half minute video that brings you right into the action! Learn how the RAF partnered with The Nature Conservancy and Fly OZ…

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RAF’S BILL MCGLYNN IS PANELIST ON AOPA SAFETY WEBINAR

RAF President Bill McGlynn will be a panel member on the AOPA Air Safety Institute’s “Back to the Back Country: 2021 in review” live webinar Thursday, November 18 from 8-9 pm EST, 5-6 pm PST. This free webinar is a segment of the Air Safety Institute’s Backcountry Safety Initiative that the RAF participated in last May.  …

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Chet Leach

From his gyrocopter, a Quicksilver, Rans S-12, a Maule, and now a Bearhawk for the backcountry, and a Piper Dakota 235 for cross country flights, Chet Leach has found a good balance after 46 years of flying as a private pilot. He began flying in 1975 in Lexington, Kentucky, and for the last 16 years…

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FAA RENEWS EFFORT TO UPDATE PRIVATE AIRPORT STATUS

The FAA is continuing their effort to update its database of Private Use airports, according to RAF Director Jeff Russell. “We want to make RAF membership aware of the FAA’s January 20 deadline and encourage owners to update their airport data in time,” Russell emphasized. The FAA initiated this project in 2020. Thousands of Private Use…

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LOCAL PILOTS JOIN RAF FOR CONNECTICUT AIRFIELD IMPROVEMENTS

“It was a beautiful day for a work party, with good local support for our campsite buildout at Waterbury,” RAF Connecticut Liaison Drew Lyons said of the September work weekend. Waterbury-Plymouth (N41) lies 20 nm northwest of New Haven, Connecticut and has two turf runways, the longest of which is 2,000 feet. This pastoral area is only about 80…

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MARCY FIELD SAFETY PROJECT COMPLETED

The second successful cooperative project between the RAF and the Town of Keene has been completed at Marcy Field, (1I1) a 2,390 turf airfield near Keene, NY in the Adirondacks. The field lies in an area popular for recreation and the summer farm market. “There is world class fishing on the Ausable river and local…

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VOLUNTEERS ESTABLISH “NEW” MOWER AT SCHAFER MEADOWS

RAF Montana Liaison and Montana Pilots Association Past President Scott Newpower reported that a half dozen planes and a helicopter landed at Schafer Meadows for a short-notice work party September 3-4. Schafer Meadows is Montana’s only airstrip within a Wilderness area, and as such, mechanized equipment cannot be used for maintenance. MPA volunteers have historically…

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